MLS vs Bishop, Pena, and Torres

I hope because he filed this grievance this doesn't mean Johhny Torres will be blackballed from the league. He could still help someone down the line.

I do remember the Fire (I think?) calling him in for one or 2 games when they needed some healthy players, so that's a good sign.

 

i wonder if the fans can file a grievance with players who suck a lot after they've been signed by mls ...

or against players who retire after making the maximum salary while never actually playing a single regular season game [cough] balboa [/cough]

 

Sure, all he did was play for the National Team for a decade and play for MLS since its inception. Sue the guy for all he's worth.

 

Senor Hack Pena...Bye!, Bye!

 

Well, there you go Ian. There are no guarantees in life. Especially when your non-guaranteed contract expires.

Thanks again to the NFLPA for continuing to fund litigation against MLS. I would have thought they would have been to busy defending their own members in court, but I guess not.

Well, MLS is 2-0 in cases that matter.

 

first of all, i'm kidding....secondly, he played for the national team, yes...thank you celo...does this mean he has the right to an annuity from mls? go ask waldo....

now get your max money leeching ass off of metro so we can get someone who'll play....

 

Maybe this will finally set Bishop's mind to rest, so he can focus in the direction where his heart is really set: the Icelandic League championship.

(Big dope.)

 

or against teams who trade for players without giving them a medical check [cough]Metrostars[/cough]

BTW, Thanks for Mark Chung!

 

Consipiracy theorist at work: What in the heck are MLS players doing continuing to take advice from the NFLPA? Wasn't the antitrust suit enough evidence of incredible misguidance and poor planning? Is the NFLPA intentionally trying to set MLS players back? Is their poorly implemented strategy an effort to discredit MLS through a corporate campaign of abusive litigation? What is going on here? If MLS had unionized six years ago, they'd have a realistic collective bargaining agreement and some voice with the league. Instead they keep tilting at windmills trying to change the league structure, the player contracts, and who knows what else, through the courts. What kind of foolish advice are they listening to?

 

NR...& Rodan! I don't really see what your gripe with Bish is! He comes out to your country after a career,mainly in the top flight over here. He uproots his family,moves to Florida & plays his heart out for his team...the team gets folded,but,as I understand it,a player over there has his contract with the league. With a year to run
they tell him to p*ss off back to England.He is invited to DC United,but as he doesn't want to upset the league during contract regotiations,he declines and is sent packing! Every interview he does over here,he states that he LOVED playing over there and would have settled there for the rest of his life! I reckon that if he played for your team,you would have worshipped the guy,no-one gave more to the team cause than Bish! I think that MLS is shooting itself in the foot,10 teams across the states is ludicrous! We've got more league teams than that in Greater Manchester!
BTW...Did you know that Robert Smith is a fan of Ian Bishop,from the days he played for Bournmouth
(Bish,not Smiffy!)

 

I think this was discussed a lot in previous threads, which I suspect are now deleted.

But what is the NFLPA doing here? They don't honestly fear that the NFL is going to go single entity. Is it that they are just trying to get more members for its Union? I.E. like the teamsters and are attempting to unionize MLS?

What does the NLFPA get out of this?
What does the MLS player get out of the NFLPA?

Anyone heard any thing lately with regards to the appeal? Which circuit is it in?

 

You are more than welcome. Davis is working out quite well on the left, and Balboa, while eating up a chunk of cap space, only cost us a 3rd rounder. Chung was traded for the pick that became Serna, who was traded for Diallo, whose midseason scoring binge is what has the Metros in playoff contention.
The Chung trade worked out well for both teams.


JMac

 

1. I thought it was a one year deal.
2. Even if it was, it is my understanding that MLS contracts aren't guaranteed.

I read on a website that documents who different famous people support that Smith is a QPR supporter.

 

I for one am happy for the players that someone is sticking up for them against the far more powerful and monied owners. There should be a grievance procedure where MLS players get a fair hearing if there is any question about them being wronged by the owners. And given past and recent history, the owners are no saints when it comes to player contract and movement issues. The league plays hardball and sometimes they do so illegally and/or unfairly (for those who have forgotten, MLS is NOT 2-0 in these cases, they are 2-1 with Paul Caligiuri being the 1).

I see the NFLPA as akin to the ACLU, a powerful force sticking up for the little guy in a world mostly controlled by people with fat wallets, ie people like MLS's owners. If they have an ulterior motive here, I say big deal, everyone has an ulterior motive. NFLPA's motive certainly is NOT to kill MLS, as many here have suggested. That would serve no one, including the NFL's players. Whatever small motive they may have, it is a small price to pay to have their funds and legal expertise backing our players.

 

I've never seen ACLU lawyers in Ferraris.

NFLPA sticking up for the little guys?? Give me a break. They'd love to see MLS die.

The little guys I'm thinking about are the soccer fans here in the USA who don't want the league to go under. Maybe, just maybe, if the guys with the "fat wallets" were actually making a decent profit off MLS I could see your point.

 

First, please note that the players lost an arbitration hearing on their contract, so it seems they have what they want. If they wanted a different kind of fair hearing, couldn't this be accomplished by a collective bargaining agreement between the MLS players' union and MLS? How exactly does an antitrust lawsuit help achieve this?

Whatever small motive they may have, it is a small price to pay to have their funds and legal expertise backing our players. [/QUOTE]
That's the legal expertise that decided to file an antitrust lawsuit with the goal of eliminating MLS rather than unionizing? The same ones that just lost a challenge to the standard MLS players contract rather than unionizing a negotiating a new contract? If the NFLPA isn't the problem, maybe their lawyers are.

 

Last I heard, the First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the case on all counts. A complete loss for the NFLPA. I don't think they appealed to the Supreme Court, but not positive.

 

I'll back up what Superdave said. I remember Bishops contract being a one year deal. Bish said MLS was going to offer him another year then decided to fold 2 teams, Miami being one of them.

Bish wasn't picked in the dispersal draft and thus not contract was offered.

I had not heard that. I have said before that I feel bad for the guy and his family - but he is 37 and in the world of pro soccer, old guys being let go is hardly newsworthy and something he should have considered once his one year contract ran out.

I wish the players had better recourse thru free agency or a union or whatever, but until MLS gets on better financial ground, I am going to side with the league on these matters. I would rather see MLS around in 3 years than Johnny Torres testing the free agent market unencumbered.

 

Zero

Based upon the reports it appears that the players received zero from the Arbitration. That implies that their claim was very weak. Typically in arbitration the arbiters try to do "justice" and will at least hand out a consolation prize to the little guy if they have even an arguable claim. I am not privy to the exact terms of the contracts but this decision is very strong evidence that the league acted within the terms of the contract. I wonder how important it was that Bishops coach at Miami did not draft him into the DC squad. That must have meaning regarding his performance last year. He certainly took at least one other Miami player (Rimando).

 

Follow-up about the Bishop lawsuit on planetfootbal.com.


I know Ian probably never checks these boards, but if he does:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH....

 

It's a shame what happened to Bishop, but he has no legal grounds for a lawsuit and the result confirms it. *************** happens. The league folded two teams. Players had to scramble and there were not enough spots for all of the Florida players. So he [europoser]got the sack[/europoser].

 

Andy,

I'm not taking BenReilly's side here. BUT, what would have been the logical result had NFLPA prevailed in the antitrust suit against MLS? USSF would not have been able to sanction MLS as the top-flight US league, MLS would not have been able to maintain its single entity status. Would that not have killed MLS?

More pointedly, even if the NFLPA is nominally helping MLS players, why have they chosen such an abysmally bad strategy when the logical process of forming a union and negotiating a CBA is staring them in the face?

I'm sure I must be missing something, and I'm willing to be enlightened because presently I cannot discern the logic of NFLPA's choices.